RMS was at UC College, Aluva today to deliver a talk on `Free Software in ethics and in practice’.
It was only today morning that I mentioned about his visit to my 4th sem CS students - I am happy that a small group of them didn’t miss this chance to meet in person the visionary leader of the Free Software Movement. And, they were really thrilled by his speech!
Devidas got a small gift - RMS’s visiting card!
Here is Priya’s report and here is Bristow’s
15 responses so far ↓
1 sujith h // Jan 10, 2008 at 6:07 pm
So nice to hear that the students took the chance to meet RMS…
2 bristow // Jan 10, 2008 at 6:16 pm
It was a spontaneous decision and we take off. He delivered an outstanding speech, moreover a mono act( some times i felt so). It was a great experience to see and listen to the talk of a world famous programmer. And I think we should not miss any such opportunities.
3 Pramode C.E // Jan 11, 2008 at 4:04 am
Bristow,
RMS is not just a world famous programmer - he is a visionary leader who had the foresight to see the trap into which the young `information society’ was falling into and had the courage and conviction to fight for his belief - the idea of “free software for a free society”.
The world today has plenty of people with great technical skill and knowledge - what it needs more are men with vision - people who have the ability to view things from a broader perspective and act for the good of the society as a whole. RMS is one such man - and the impact of his work is fast spreading outside the domain of software.
4 Dinil // Jan 11, 2008 at 7:58 am
It would be a good experience for all those who could meet him. One gets more thrilled as well as excited about the thoughts and philosophies he share.
5 Pramode C.E // Jan 11, 2008 at 9:11 am
Dinil,
Yes - it will be good if this experience makes at least a few students think a bit more about the social and cultural aspects of technology.
6 devidas // Jan 11, 2008 at 10:43 am
sir,
first and foremost, thanks to you for having us informed about R.M.S visit to kerala.
it was a life time experience to meet this giant of modern era and to actually talk to him in person. and yes, i had the esteemed privilege of getting his visiting card. Can’t express my heartfelt joy in words.
to say about the speech he delivered, it was simply enthralling, entertainig and informative all at the same time. Remarks he made against the DRM, Windows, and all the other propreitory monopolies brought roars of laughter, thus casting the crucial point he had intended to convey effectively.
Thanks a lot again, sir.
7 Priya.. // Jan 11, 2008 at 12:10 pm
It ’s only because of you, we could meet such a great personality and got a chance to talk with him in a friendly manner. Thankyou so much, sir.
RMS’s photo with my friends make me envious, since I missed the golden chance to pose for a photo, standing so close to him (this happened only because the photo was taken by me
).
8 Pramode C.E // Jan 12, 2008 at 3:21 am
Devidas, Priya,
It is natural to be impressed by a personality like RMS - but we should make sure that we *do* understand him properly. This requires, a *lot* of reading and a lot of independent thinking …
9 kiran // Jan 12, 2008 at 12:35 pm
rms was at iit delhi on 8th. There he gave a talk on dangers of software patents. It was a pretty nice talk. I was leaving delhi on 9th. So was lucky …
10 Pramode C.E // Jan 12, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Kiran,
Any links on the iitd talk?
11 Anish Bhaskaran // Jan 14, 2008 at 8:43 am
I would have loved to have such an experience.
Das, Priya, Mobin etc..
You really are a lucky bunch.. keep it going..
12 kiran // Jan 14, 2008 at 4:28 pm
He dint have any presentation slides. He stood and delivered the talk because he told he was sleepy.
no official links. but couple of unofficial ones.
http://www.honeytechblog.com/the-danger-of-software-patents-richard-stallman-speech-in-iit-delhi-india/
http://readerlist.freeflux.net/blog/archive/2008/01/07/reader-list-richard-stallman-s-talk-jan-08-2008-seminar-hall-iit-delhi-5-pm.html
A writeup about the talk might come in the iitd cse departmental newsletter in mid-feb. I can send you that.
13 sujith h // Jan 14, 2008 at 5:31 pm
Next time when I would come there I would handover the Eben videos and RMS videos to you :).
14 Pramode C.E // Jan 15, 2008 at 7:01 am
Thanks Kiran!
15 Mahesh Aravind // Jun 11, 2008 at 9:38 am
I too was privileged to attend to his talk. All I got was a ‘GNU sticker’ and an ‘FSF sticker’.
I wanted to get his autograph on the ‘FSF song printout’, but he was too busy.
Here’s my experience: http://maravind.blogspot.com/2008/01/rms-at-uc-colleg-aluva.html
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